PINTEREST!

I am not sure about you all, but I am a total pin fanatic... completely and utterly addicted to pinterest. If you have never been on Pinterest, or don't know what it is (god forbid) get on it now and check it out! I will apologize in advance though for the total and complete time suck I just introduced you to though. I am an incredibly visual person, so the way that pinterest is designed works perfectly for me, I am interested by the picture, I can pin it, and I will remember it by the picture when I want to come back to it. So simple.

Now that I am engaged (eek! :)) Pinterest has been sucking even more time away from me being productive because there are so many good ideas for weddings out there! But what I really want to talk to you today about is all the awesome teaching pins out there!! If you go on to Pinterest.com, sign up, and look under the categories tool bar, you can find a list of categories to search. Choose education. There are so many great things out there and Pinterest holds so many cool blogs, webpages and pictures for inspiration in your classrooms. Everything from lesson plans to classroom organization.

Speaking of classroom organization, I am pretty much in love with the new organization tips that are out there right now. My cooperating teacher keeps a really organized room, and it makes me feel so welcome and ready when I am there. Organization is a big deal for me. In my own room at home it is not always the most organized, but when it is not.. it kills me!  I feel so frantic and frustrated when I am in an unclean room, so I always will find some time to organize and get things back to the way they were.

I feel like I have to be much more organized in my own classroom, so to do this I need to have clear places of where things go. Having an organized area really shows its effectiveness by the tools that are used to make the space. On Pinterest there are some awesome ideas of how I can accomplish my well organized classroom. Here are some of my favorites:







These are all from The Classroom Creative: http://www.theclassroomcreative.com/2012/08/12/classroom-organization-ideas-tips/






I am so in love with this room from Schoolgirl Style:
http://www.schoolgirlstyle.com/2013/02/the-organization-station/

The colors are perfect, super cute and gender neutral and there are just some great step by step instructions on here that are so easy to do in your own room!



These are all her lesson plans! Ah! If I were OCD I think I would love this woman.





This room from Mrs. Terhune's First Grade Site is a fantastic resource also for some great organizational tips and printouts! http://mrsterhune.blogspot.com/2011/11/classroom-organization.html



In closing, I would just like to say that I am SO EXCITED to have my own classroom and organize it to the T! My time with my little kindergarteners is dwindling so I am trying to soak up as much knowledge from my teachers at Longwood as well as my cooperating teacher.

TWS!

Hello again internet!

Weeks have been passing by so quickly and here I am already, doing my TWS unit for my class. I am so happy to be working with these students and teaching them about plants this week. Today was the first day of my unit and it went so well! I was extremely happy with the way everything went, and also the behavior in my kids during the lesson. Sometimes it is hard to go into a classroom that is not your own and be the teacher. The students will try to test you in every way that they think they can. Since I have been in the classroom for many weeks now I actually thought the behavior might be even worse for me than with a teacher they had never met before, because I am not the main enforcer of the punishments in my classroom, my cooperating teacher is. Of course when I have the class to myself I am on top of behavior and I enforce it, but that is not a lot of the time I am given the opportunity to be the main teacher like that. So today when I got up in front of the class and I did not have to speak to any one of them consistently, that was a great feeling. This means that during the times that I did have the class to myself, I kept stern, and I kept in charge. It is extremely important for me to have good behavior in my classroom and for me to be on top of all the tactics I should be using. I have always been afraid of being too nice, and having my classroom get out of control. This semester, and my cooperating teacher especially have taught me to become that strong figure in the front of a class. Still the fun teacher, but one you respect, not someone that lets you get away with things.

I had done a pre-assesment about a two weeks ago for my students about plants and what they needed to grow. In the pre-assesment I conducted an interview asking my students what they knew about plant's needs. A majority of my students could think of two or three out of the five things I want them to know, so they needed some work. During the pre-assesment, becuase I did it individually, I took the time to explain to them the needs of a plant that they had not already told me. Today in class I was so impressed what I did my KWL chart that out of my twelve students, they were able to think of all five needs. Of course a majority of my students still need more instruction with these needs, but to know that the pre-assesment stuck with some of my kids was a great thing to see.

The song that I worked with them on was such a hit, and I plan to use it through out the week for reinforcement. I would love to use songs all the time in my own classroom, i think that it is such a great way to memorize facts and concepts, and it is also a fun way to get kids on task and learning.

I cant wait to keep going through the week and see what my kids will bring to the table next! Bring it on TWS! :)

Unit coming together!

Hello internet! I am far into my partnership now, just about halfway and finally feeling comfortable in my classroom and with my kids, getting in the routine of it all. Im so thankful for the school that i have been placed in and the huge support system that is in place from all the kindergarten teachers. I can only hope to get a job in a school with even similar team support.
I am getting ready to teach my unit, getting all of my lesson plans together and I am getting very excited.  This week is going to be quite stressful with all of the assignments due, but spring break is just around the corner and then I get to teach my unit! I am looking forward to spring break so I can take a little time to relax and just process, all while I am still doing my work and trying to get ahead in my work for the next few weeks.
My unit for my kindergarten class is going to be on plants and living things. I am excited to have the opportunity to be the main teacher during this unit, because I have never taught for a whole week straight. I am excited for the responsibility. I think my kids are going to love what I have in store for them becuase we will be working with plants and seeing first hand how they grow. Some of my kids I know will have a strong background knowledge in the things I will be teaching them, but I know that a lot of my students are very unaware of the fundamental needs for plants and animals.
This week we just got finished focusing on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and presidents day. I really enjoyed seeing how much my students knew about the presidents and how much they have remembered from earlier in the year about money and in which order the presidents were elected.
I cant wait to start my own unit when I come back from spring break! Should be a great time exploring science with my little kindergarteners. Until next time!

Mommyapolis!

I am now about to start week four in my Kindergarten class, and I am loving it! My teacher is extremely accommodating and willing to help me in any way she can. She is always asking me if I need any help getting information or help getting me connected with specific teachers. I am certainly lucky to have her as a cooperating teacher because she has so much to teach me and so much to offer. My class is getting ready for Valentines day just this Thursday! They are all so excited already. I wish I could go back to Kindergarten sometimes and relive those parties that we had, giving each other little valentines, picking out the best ones for your best friends (and your secret crush). One of the boys in the class told me that he was going to make all of his valentines by hand, and write a special message to each of his classmates. I thought that that was the cutest thing. What a thoughtful student I have.
In the mood of all things Valentines day, I thought I would write a post highlighting a wonderful festive idea! I am an avid pinner on Pinterest, and I came upon a pin the other day bringing me to the Mommyapolis blog. Not only does this blog have a fantastic and cute idea for Valentines day, it had loads of ideas for every other holiday imaginable on this page! I was so ecstatic when I found it because I love holidays, and I especially love celebrating them with children, so this brings in the best of both worlds.
Here is the link to the blog: http://mommyapolis.com/
This link here will send you to a picture of Mommyapolis' great idea to make a box into a valentines card holder, and disguising it as a heart shaped penguin: http://mommyapolis.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/dsc_0866.jpg

Here you can find the whole DIY on this penguin: http://mommyapolis.com/hands-on/penguin-craft-valentines-day-box/  

I personally love this craft and would love to do it in my own classroom. Once I have my own classroom, implementing fun crafts is something that I would like to stay persistent with. It gets little minds working and gives children an outlet for all of their creative energy, in such a productive way.

First Impressions

Growing up in northern Virginia has given me a pretty idealistic idea of how schools should be run in the public system. My schools were always very large, clean, and well organized. The teachers seemed quite happy, and the administration seemed very on top of things. The resources that we had in our county were so great. Every child had their own book to take home, there were multiple computer labs with flat screen computers, teachers could check out laptop carts, providing all of their students with a laptop in class... etc. I was extremely privileged in my school system and I wasn't even aware that I was until I started my student teaching in different counties, and now especially here in my Partnership in Lunenburg.
After getting the notification that I was placed in Lunenburg county, my first reaction was "Where is that?" Lunenburg is a county that I had never heard of, so I had to go straight to Google Maps to see for myself. To my disappointment I first found out that I was going to be driving about 45 minutes everyday to my elementary school. Finding the gas money for that commute every day was not going to be an easy task, but i was excited to get started none the less. I also found out while researching that Lunenburg was quite a rural town, very similar to Farmville actually. I was interested to see what grade i was placed with and what my students would be like, because i had never taught in such a small town before.
After a few days of settling into Longwood and getting acquainted with our new partnership teachers, it was finally time to meet our cooperating teachers at our school. I was so excited when I found out that I got placed in Kindergarten! Even better was getting to meet my new cooperating teacher and seeing how friendly and easygoing she is. The school is two levels, and a lot bigger than I expected actually. Once i got to see the classroom I was so surprised at how large the classroom is and how tiny my class was going to be! I only have 12 kindergarteners in my class! How crazy! I was loving this placement already :)
On day one of class I was ecstatic to meet all of my little kindergarten kiddos. They all came in off the bus and were so welcoming to to me on my first day! Many of them asked me how long I was staying, and some of them asked me if I had taught kindergarten before. They were all so cute! Through out the day I was so surprised to see how smart my class was! They were forming sentences, naming off the presidents on american currency, and even naming off the months in spanish!
Little by little I could tell how much the school was really in desperation for money. The P.E. teacher was cut from the other elementary school, leaving our P.E. teacher to go back and forth between schools. The computer lab has huge, outdated computers, and there are barely enough working headphones to be sufficient in my class of 12. The teachers had access to only two black and one color cartridge of ink per year for their whole class, and many of the supplies they had was purchased out of their own pockets. In the lunch room there is not enough help for teachers to leave their class and eat in the teachers lounge, they need to sit with their students at their table, in fact, their isn't even a teachers lounge that I know of.
I think that working in Lunenburg county will be an excellent growing experience for me as a teacher. My little kindergarteners have so much to teach me already, and my cooperating teacher is so willing to work with me and show me her ways. I am well on my way to becoming a confident, flexible teacher.